By EuAsiaNews
Brussels : India’s textile and clothing exporters are holding their own against the Chinese steamroller as regards their exports to the 27-nation European Union (EU).
“Indian exports are growing at an even pace,” a senior European trade official told EuAsiaNews on Wednesday.
Indian exports to the EU rose by four percent to 4.4 billion euro* over the period January to September, 2007, as compared to the corresponding period in 2006. Chinese textile and clothing exports to the EU rose by 12 percent between January and August 2007 to 18.4 billion euro.
More recent figures are not available for the EU as a whole, quite simply because collecting statistics from all 27 EU countries is a time-consuming task.
Preliminary reports point to a surge last month in four textile and clothing products exported by China to the EU. These reports are based on the double checking system which came into effect on January 1.
This system allows the EU to monitor textile and clothing imports from China, on the basis of the export and import licenses issued by the two sides. It is working well, although there have been a few hiccups.
“But we need import figures,” William Lakin, the Director-General of Euratex, the Brussels-based lobby representing the European textile and clothing industry, told EuAsiaNews.
Although Chinese exporters have kept within their quota limits so far, the double checking system does not impose quotas, he said.
Lakin feels it is necessary to have the latest import statistics, in order to see whether the increase in imports from China has been off-set by a fall in exports to the EU from Hong Kong and Macao, and perhaps other Asian countries.
A fall would indicate that Chinese products are not being transshipped, accompanied by false certificates of origin.
The efforts of European textile and clothing exporters are being handicapped by the very strong euro, especially as many goods are invoiced in dollars. “Our exports to the U.S. are probably lower,” noted Lakin.
However, while the volume of exports has fallen, its value has remained steady.
The slowdown in the EU economy is also expected to reduce sales by European textile and clothing manufacturers to the 27-nation single European market.
Lakin sees Asian textile and clothing exports to the EU suffer as a result of very strong competition from China. Bangladesh’s clothing exports to the EU stood at 3.2 billion euro between January and August, 2007. They were unchanged from the corresponding period in 2006.
Pakistan fared slightly better. Its exports to the EU showed a one percent rise between January and August last year to 1.6 billion euro, as compared to the same period in 2006.
* one euro is currently worth $1.40.